Kobe Bryant Wants to Be More of a Facilitator Next Season

The road back from an Achilles injury has been one long slog, but Kobe Bryant fully intends to be in the lineup when the 2013-14 season kicks off. He also says that he may play a slightly different role for the Los Angeles Lakers, one that involves a lot more (gasp!) passing. Per ESPN: “On what type of player he’ll be in 2013-14 … ‘You have to be able to adapt. During this last season, I was able to find areas to adjust my game to help us win, in terms of being more of an assist guy. You got to pick up certain areas and a lot of it depends on just the team that you have and the guys that you have around you. I’m more than comfortable just sitting back and scoring 21, 22 points or whatever and getting 10, 11 assists whatever the case might be. More than comfortable with that. It’s just a matter of the pieces that you have around you and what you can do to elevate everybody else.’ On if he thinks about what the best-case scenario will be for him when he returns to the court from his Achilles injury … ‘Every day. I envision it every day. You have to. You have to be able to see it first.’ On what Kobe Bryant we will see next season … ‘Hopefully the Kobe that used to have an afro that can’t grow an afro anymore. That will be a good day.'”